Every Dog Has His Day -- To Swim

Pools close to humans on Labor Day but it usually takes a while for the closing process for the winter to be complete. And sometimes this benefits pets. For instance, this weekend at the Maplewood Family Aquatic Center they are holding a Dog Swim, "Where Pooches Rule the Pool." Proceeds benefit the Maplewood Dog Park.

Informative?

Booking through Thursday asks: What’s the most informative book you’ve read recently?

This is hard because I've just started reading again after my unintentional hiatus. And I haven't read much non-fiction.

I'm in the middle of Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle so I guess I'll go with that one. It is making shopping at the farmer's market a bit more interesting.

Barbara Trapido

AndiF's bag of "Brit Lit" included two novels by Barbara Trapido:  The Travelling Hornplayer and Frankie & Stankie.  I had never read anything by Trapido before and, after reading the The Travelling Hornplayer,  I was happy to have another of her novels to start immediately.

The Travelling Hornplayer is an ensemble story but it revolves around a cast of characters that knew the deceased Lydia Dent who died, suddenly, as a teenage girl in London.   Her only sister Ellen Dent is profoundly changed by the death.   One of her college roommates, Stella, is the daughter of novelist Jonathan Goldman, outside of whose flat Lydia was killed.  But none of these characters seem to put the connection together, at least not at first.  

Private View

Private View by Jean McNeil is another book I pulled at random from AndiF's "Brit Lit" sack.  The protagonist is a woman named Alex who is living in a London loft with an artist named Conrad, although they are not "living together" in a relationship.  Alex was once an artist but she can no longer create.  McNeil tells the story mostly in linear form but with flashbacks at the end of each chapter to a traumatic incident that Alex experienced when traveling in Central America.  Alex's lack of creativity dates from the incident and, as a result of the incident, she has suffered some memory loss.

New Season

The new television season is about to begin. What should I watch?

I'm considering checking out Glee, which premiers this Wednesday on Fox (9:00 eastern). It's the story of a high school glee club, set in Ohio. I watched the pilot on hulu and enjoyed it. But, then, I'm a sucker for singing and dancing. I'm usually not home on most Wednesdays, though, so I'll probably always be catching it on hulu. I will not be going to the local watch party but for those of you in St. Louis here's the info:

THE EVENT NOT TO MISS - CALL THE NEIGHBORS!
On Wednesday September 9, FOX will air the Season Premiere of GLEE. The pilot was amazing and now you can watch the anticipated episode "Showmance" in the main auditorium at the beautiful Tivoli Theatre in the Delmar Loop. (Imagine 400 Gleeks - and soon to be Gleeks - bringing the fun spirit of this show to life right here in St. Louis!)
This event is hosted by Growing American Youth and everyone is welcome.
Doors open at 6:30pm
Pre-show event/entertainment at 7pm emceed by local actor/comedian Ed Reggi
GLEE airs LIVE at 8pm.
Bring your friends, families, show choir, cheerleading squad, etc (you get the point)
No pre-registration is needed. No tickets to buy ahead of time. We will seat until capacity.
$5 minimum suggested donation supports Growing American Youth

I'm kind of sorry I'll miss meeting 400 Gleeks.